Semester of Graduation

Summer 2018

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Biloxi Marsh, located along the shoreline of Eloi Bay in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana has experienced significant shoreline erosion in recent years. The Living Shoreline Demonstration Project, completed in November 2016, constructed three miles of living shoreline structures to attenuate waves and thus combat marsh edge erosion along the shoreline of Eloi Bay. Several types of constructed oyster reef breakwaters were installed for this demonstration project. Due to the experimental nature of these products, available performance characteristics are limited.

This research measures wave attenuation across the constructed oyster reef breakwaters using bottom-mounted pressure gauges. Seven pressure gauges were deployed to obtain wave characteristics on the unprotected and protected sides of four types of breakwater structures. The raw pressure data were processed to determine water surface elevations, significant wave heights, and peak wave periods. In addition to the wave gauges, two water level sondes were deployed to record water surface elevations at the site. Topographic and bathymetric surveys were also conducted along cross-shore transects at the wave gauge locations to provide a profile of the shoreline and structures. The wave attenuation and transmission characteristics of the oyster reef breakwaters from the field measurements are presented. A range of transmission coefficients were calculated for each breakwater structure type.

Date

6-25-2018

Committee Chair

Jafari, Navid

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.4752

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